[syn: inquisitive, speculative, questioning, wondering(a)]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Speculative \Spec"u*la*tive\ (sp[e^]k"[-u]*l[.a]*t[i^]v), a.
[Cf. F. sp['e]culatif, L. speculativus.]
1. Given to speculation; contemplative.
[1913 Webster]
The mind of man being by nature speculative.
--Hooker.
[1913 Webster]
2. Involving, or formed by, speculation; ideal; theoretical;
not established by demonstration. --Cudworth.
[1913 Webster]
3. Of or pertaining to vision; also, prying; inquisitive;
curious. [R.] --Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
4. Of or pertaining to speculation in land, goods, shares,
etc.; as, a speculative dealer or enterprise.
[1913 Webster]
The speculative merchant exercises no one regular,
established, or well-known branch of business. --A.
Smith.
[1913 Webster]
5. (Finance) More risky than typical investments; not
investment grade.
[PJC] -- Spec"u*la*tive*ly, adv. --
Spec"u*la*tive*ness, n.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
speculative
adj 1: not financially safe or secure; "a bad investment"; "high
risk investments"; "anything that promises to pay too
much can't help being risky"; "speculative business
enterprises" [syn: bad, risky, high-risk,
speculative]
2: not based on fact or investigation; "a notional figure of
cost helps in determining production costs"; "speculative
knowledge" [syn: notional, speculative]
3: showing curiosity; "if someone saw a man climbing a light
post they might get inquisitive"; "raised a speculative
eyebrow" [syn: inquisitive, speculative, questioning,
wondering(a)]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
105 Moby Thesaurus words for "speculative":
abstract, academic, adventurous, aleatory, analytical, arguable,
armchair, at issue, chancy, closet, cogitative, cognitive,
concentrating, concentrative, conceptive, conceptual,
conceptualized, confutable, conjectural, contemplating,
contemplative, contestable, controversial, controvertible, curious,
debatable, deliberating, deliberative, deniable, dicey, disputable,
doubtable, doubtful, dubious, dubitable, excogitating,
full of risk, hazardous, hypothetic, hypothetical, ideal,
idealistic, idealized, ideational, ideative, iffy, impractical,
in dispute, in doubt, in dubio, in question, inquiring,
intellectual, introspective, meditating, meditative, mental,
mistakable, moot, museful, musing, noetic, notional, open to doubt,
open to question, pensive, pondering, postulatory, prehensive,
problematic, questionable, questioning, ratiocinative, rational,
reflecting, reflective, refutable, riskful, risky, ruminant,
ruminating, ruminative, serious, sober, suppositional,
supposititious, suppositive, suspect, suspicious, theoretical,
thinking, thought, thoughtful, uncertain, unpractical, unproved,
unproven, unrealistic, unreliable, untested, untrustworthy,
venturesome, venturous, wildcat, wistful